The good news about the end of record stores as brick-and-mortar businesses is that people like you--weirdos and freaks (ok, me too)--cannot be segregated into the jazz section, and Fred Lonberg-Holm's music may be available to a wider listening audience. That might be just our dream, but with music coming from his trio Stirrup, internet crawlers and open-ear listeners can get hip to what he's putting down. Lonberg-Holm plays his signature cello, plus electronics and electric guitar here ...

When you consider all the musicians that have recorded duos with cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm, it sounds kind of like the SPAM Monty Python sketch comedy piece. Yes, I'll have some Fred Lonberg-Holm and Ken Vandermark." What, you don't want Fred Lonberg-Holm and Axel Dörner, or Fred Lonberg-Holm and Mats Gustafsson, or Fred Lonberg-Holm and Peter Brotzmann, or Fred Lonberg-Holm and Paal Nilssen-Love, or Fred Lonberg-Holm and Frode Gjerstad or Fred Lonberg-Holm and Nick Stephans, or Fred Lonberg-Holm and David Stackenäs, ...

The duo Party Knüllers is a transatlantic collaboration between Chicago's own Fred Lonberg-Holm on cello & electronics and Norway's Ståle Liavik Solberg on drums & percussion. The two played together in a quartet, also including clarinetist Frode Gjerstad and vocalist Stine Janvin Motland, on VC/DC (Hispid, 2011), the inaugural release of the label that now releases two albums by the duo themselves. One of these albums is a vinyl collaboration with Chicagoan Jim Baker on analogue synthesizer, bearing a bizarre ...

These improvisations between Chicago's ubiquitous cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm and veteran British double bassist Nick Stephens, known for ongoing collaborations with Norwegian reed master Frode Gjerstad and South-African drummer Louis Moholo- Moholo, were recorded in 2011 in Stephens' home-town, Northwood. The duo immediately establish a common language that encompasses organic elements of fiery free jazz, through exploration of extended bowing techniques or often simple, straight- forward and lyrical, chamber playing. The two juggle between these shifting elements, ...

The collective trio Stirrup is a salient example of the genre-defying cooperative spirit that defines Chicago's creative improvised music scene. Accustomed to collaborating with a wide variety of artists, these three musicians seamlessly incorporate an array of influences and approaches on Sewn, their debut recording as a trio.Drawing upon the folksy lyricism that underpins their ensemble work as the rhythm section of the Horse's Ha (a band that also features vocalist Janet Bean of Freakwater and Eleventh Dream ...

It's apparent why Ken Vandermark invited cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm to join the now defunct Vandermark 5 a decade ago. His versatility allows him to play a full spectrum of music from chamber jazz to stadium rock. One minute he's Pablo Casals, the next Jimi Hendrix. His adventures have taken him from Peter Brotzmann's Tentet to Dave Rempis' Ballister, to Chicago's Fast Citizens, and his own Valentine Trio, Seval, ADA Trio, and The Boxhead Ensemble. Stirrup is a trio ...

When a band gathers some very imaginative musicians into its fold, it can only lead to one thing: an amazing listening experience. Fast Citizens has proved that over the years from the time saxophonist Keefe Jackson formed the band in 2003 and released Ready Everyday (Delmark Records, 2006), through to to Two Cities (Delmark Records, 2009), with saxophonist Aram Shelton at the helm. The members of the band were democratic to the core and decided that they would take turns ...

This unconventional quartet is comprised of Frode Gjerstad, fellow Norwegians and citizens of the Norwegian reeds hero's hometown, Stavanger, vocalist Stine Janvin Motland and drummer Ståle Liavik Solberg (known also as the MotSol duo, for whom Gjerstad produced the debut, Strap on (FMR, 2006)). Frequent Gjerstad collaborator, Chicago-based cellist Fred Longberg-Holm, rounds out the quartet, his last collaboration with the reed player, Sugar Maple, together with Chicago drummer Michael Zerang, released by FMR in 2010. Even though ...

I grew up listening to my father's jazz records and listening to the radio. My dad was a musician for many years as a vocalist, bassist and drummer. His two uncles played in the Symphony of Reggio Calabria back in Italy

I grew up listening to my father's jazz records and listening to the radio. My dad was a musician for many years as a vocalist, bassist and drummer. His two uncles played in the Symphony of Reggio Calabria back in Italy. So music and jazz specifically have been a part of me since I was born. I love and perform in all styles of music from around the world. Improvisation in jazz is what drew me in, and still does as well as other genres that feature improvisation. A group of great musicians expressing themselves as one is the hallmark of great jazz and in fact all great music.